As early childhood educators working with little ones, and parents of toddlers and preschoolers we are always looking for the best activities, methods, and new innovative ideas to provide our children the optimum learning environment. STEAM—an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics is a hot topic in early childhood education gaining a lot of attention for its many benefits to early learning. While each of these subjects holds its own importance, when they are intertwined the benefits for learning are immense. At Kids Adventure Learning Center we feel strongly that our hands on STEAM program enriches our Fullerton Preschool’s atmosphere enhancing the learning experience for all of our children.
Fostering Curiosity and Creativity
Young children are curious by nature, and STEAM education capitalizes on this. By offering children hands-on experiments, creative art projects, and problem-solving activities, we foster an environment that nurtures their innate desire to explore, ask questions, hypothesize and learn! Whether it’s mixing colors to create an art project, coding a robot, or problem solving with a building challenge STEAM encourages children to ask questions and seek answers, fueling their creativity as they work through projects and learning challenges collaboratively or on their own
Developing Critical Thinking Skills
STEAM projects often present challenges or problems that require critical thinking and reasoning. When children engage in projects as our preschool in Fullerton, that require them to hypothesize, test theories, and adjust ideas and solutions, they inadvertently gain critical thinking skills. For example, if they’re given the task of building a bridge with specific, limited classroom materials, teachers will help groups collaborate and discuss to plan, create and test out their bridge/plan, and adjust their designs based on how well their bridge fairs. This experience of trial and error and communication with their group is incremental in their learning journey.
Encouraging Collaboration and Communication
Many STEAM projects/challenges are designed to be collaborative, allowing children to work in groups. This teamwork fosters essential social skills, such as sharing ideas, cooperatively discussing methods and roles each child will take, and learning to work cooperatively with others. At our Montessori in Fullerton collaborative activities allow children not only learn how to communicate their thoughts but also how to respect different perspectives, building empathy and teamwork, as well as learning from each other and giving children the opportunity to share their ideas and teacher/guide their classmates as well.
Integrating Learning Across Disciplines
STEAM breaks down the traditional barriers between subjects pushing curriculum to new standards combining art and math or science and technology. Providing children with an outlet to combine creativity, analytical skills, problem solving, and often technology as well. A typical STEAM project might as children to read The Three Little Pigs, then create their own “house” for their little pig with limited materials. Children would them devise a plan, create and or decorate their house and then see whose will withstand the “world”. Other projects maybe a tessellation art project where we learn about shapes, color, and angles or a coding challenge to have our school robot through a maze of sorts. This integration helps children see connections between different areas of knowledge, promoting a more cohesive understanding of the world around them.
Building Confidence and Resilience
When preschoolers engage in STEAM activities, they often encounter problems and setbacks, for example their bridge collapses, or they are unable to build the structure they envisioned. These experiences give children opportunities to regroup, pivot and try again which teaches resilience, encouraging them to try again, learn from their mistakes, and ultimately succeed. It also encourages collaboration between the children, encouragement, and opportunities for teachable moments with specific guidance from teachers. As children overcome these learning challenges, they build confidence in their own abilities, fostering a growth mindset that will benefit them in all areas of life.
Preparing for the Future
In today’s ever changing and evolving society skills in science, technology, engineering, art, and math are more important than ever. Early exposure and hands on experience with STEAM concepts prepare children for future educational endeavors and career opportunities. Whether it’s an Architect, Scientist, Animator, or an Engineer, many careers often stem from the concepts encouraged in STEAM learning. By building a strong foundation in these areas during preschool, we set the stage for lifelong learning and adaptability in an evolving job market. At our Fullerton Preschool Center we have had many graduates go on to other STEAM programs as well in their Elementary schools and we are so proud of all the learning they have accomplished with us and beyond.
Making Learning Fun
Our Fullerton Montessori offers provides one of the most important aspects of STEAM learning– FUN! By integrating play and creativity into educational activities, children remain engaged and motivated having fun as they solve problems and learn. What serves as a classroom activity just feels like play amongst the children. In an atmosphere that presents learning in this format children grow to associate learning with enjoyment, flexibility, and socialization with peers leading to a positive attitude toward education that can encourage a positive attitude in learning for a lifetime.
Overall, incorporating STEAM into preschool curriculum is not just an educational fad; it is a new, innovative, vital approach to nurturing well-rounded, innovative lifelong critical thinkers. By fostering our students’ curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and resilience, we prepare our youngest learners for a future filled with possibilities.
- Montessori Preschool serving Fullerton, Buena Park, and Anaheim